Third woman comes forward claiming deputy groped her as she was handcuffed

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – On Wednesday, a third woman came forward to accuse a San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy of groping her while he was on duty.

The woman said Deputy Richard Fischer repeatedly fondled her after placing her in handcuffs during a traffic stop.

Two other women have come forward with similar claims.

The East County woman said Sheriff’s Deputy Fischer pulled her and her husband over along Los Coches Road in January of last year on suspicion of selling meth out of their car.

While the deputy did not find meth, he did find two prescription pain pills she had placed in a plastic bag for her own personal use.

“I did not know I had to have them in a bottle. He said ‘it’s against the law and I’ll have to take you in,’ and he handcuffed me,” said the woman.

With her hands restrained behind her back, the woman said Deputy Fischer placed her in the back of his Sheriff’s vehicle.

“I didn’t know what to say. I thought maybe he was going to try to rape me. That was what was going through my mind the whole time,” she said.

The woman said she was in shock and unable to react – even more so stunned by what he did next.

“He sat me down and as he tried to put the seat belt over me he fondled my breast. He rubbed his arm and palm up and down motion on my breast. He said to me, ‘I hope your husband does not mind.' I didn’t know what to say. I was scared,” she said.

The woman said Fischer fondled her three more times: at the Lakeside substation, at Las Colinas Women’s Prison and then, hours later, he unexpectedly told her she was not going to jail; instead wrote her a ticket and drover her near her home – finally uncuffing her.

According to the woman, the deputy had one last request. “He said, ‘can I ask you a favor?’ I said, ‘yeah.’ He asked, ‘Can I get a hug?’”

Eerily similar to the M.O. Deputy Fischer allegedly used with the two other women who have stepped forward.

“He put his arms around, rubbed up and down by buttocks – four times total. It’s not right what he did,” said the woman.

Last week, a complaint by an unidentified "Jane Doe" alleges that Deputy Richard Fischer "rubbed and fondled" her on Aug. 20. The complaint claims Fischer was sent to her home with other deputies about 4 a.m. for a welfare check, but he returned alone an hour later and asked to be let inside.

Fischer told the woman he thought she was cute, hugged her for 10 seconds without consent and then rubbed his hands down her torso, shoulders, arms, back and buttocks. After the hug, he told her again he thought she was good looking, then hugged her again; the woman resisted more aggressively the second time.

"Jane Doe was terrified, yet she was able to order Fischer to leave her home," according to the complaint. "In total, Fischer was in Jane Doe's house for 7 to 10 minutes."

Back in 2014, the City of San Diego agreed to pay $5.9 million to a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by former officer Anthony Arevalos in a Seven-Eleven restroom.

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